Breaking Point
by Fridoline
Summary: Haruki comes down with a fever. Being the reliable big brother type, he of course makes light of his elevated temperature and prioritizes his responsibilities over his health. He might be tougher than he looks, but even Haruki has a breaking point.
1. Chapter 1

Yesterday had been a very long day with college classes, band practice and the late shift at the café. Haruki had dragged himself home groggy and tired and had only managed to kick off his shoes in the entrance and to collapse onto his bed half-undressed.

He slept in until almost noon, only waking up when his bladder was making a pressing argument that it would be better for the mattress and his dignity to get up and visit the bathroom. The bed on the other hand was really damn warm and cozy and Haruki's eyes just wouldn't open. He felt like he could just sleep through the whole day. It was Saturday so there were no college classes but he still had some more work and band practice scheduled in the afternoon and evening, which he pointedly ignored for the moment to indulge some more in his dream of a lazy day at home.

But a few minutes later he really could not ignore his need to take a leak and after some tossing and turning, Haruki was finally awake enough to open his eyes and slip out of bed.

On the floor lay scattered a few more clothes than he remembered shedding last night. Haruki was vaguely aware that he had shrugged out of his jacket and sweater before he was too exhausted to work on his t-shirt or any clothes below his torso. Apparently he must have wiggled out of his socks and jeans sometime during the night. No wonder, it was really rather unusually hot in his bedroom.

Haruki made a very short detour to the window and cracked it open to let in some fresh air. Fall was slowly changing to winter so it was getting a bit colder these days but Haruki was sure he had not switched on the heating yet. A quick check by putting his hand on the radiator below the window confirmed this, it remained cool to the touch.

He shrugged it off and scuttled barefooted to the bathroom. The tiles were pleasantly cool under the sole of his feet and he left some damp footprints on them with each step.

After relieving himself, Haruki diligently washed his hands – he was the hygienic type after all – and scrutinized his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bleary and he had some dark circles around them, while his skin managed to appear paler than normal and with a kind of greyish tint to it, apart from the dark splotches of pink that sat high on his cheeks. Haruki was sweating. He realized he was definitely coming down with something.

A sigh escaped his lips as he hung his head over the sink in defeat. He finally understood why he had felt a little under the weather the past few days. Well, nothing he could do than to let it run its course.

Haruki turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water into his face. It cooled him down for a whole two seconds and managed to wake him up a bit more. Then he grabbed his toothbrush and began scrubbing the morning breath away. He was really particular about his teeth and his morning routine spent a good amount of time on keeping those pearl whites perfect, which was quite a feat for a combined smoker and coffee drinker.

After the thorough dental hygiene Haruki went back to his bedroom, made his bed, picked up his clothes from yesterday and pulled some fresh ones out of his wardrobe. Then he returned to the bathroom, where he dumped his dirty clothes in the laundry basket, including the shirt and boxer briefs he woke up in. The clean clothes were laid onto the bathroom cabinet to be in easy grabbing range once he exited the shower.

With all preparations done, Haruki turned on the shower. He waited a bit before testing the temperature then adjusted it to a warmer one and stepped under the spray as soon as the water felt hot enough. The constant stream of warmth engulfed Haruki's body and, under the pressure of the water jet, his muscles slowly began to relax and he felt some relief in the dull ache of them. At the same time, though, it made the pain in his bones more prominent.

Haruki chuckled to himself. Feeling like an old man at the tender age of 23. Maybe he needed some more exercise, even though he really did not know how to add that to his increasing everyday tasks.

Shaking off all unnecessary thoughts, Haruki began to lather up his body and shampoo his hair. He took his time cleaning up, enjoying the warm embrace of the water until he started to feel a bit dizzy in the heat. An untimely slipping accident in the shower was something he really did not need to add to his list of bad luck, so Haruki rinsed off quickly, turned off the shower and stepped out of it and onto the shower mat.

After he had dried himself off, gotten dressed and blow-dried his hair, Haruki was more or less human again and ready to face the day.

He only had to work half a shift at the café. Haruki had promised a distressed and desperate female colleague to cover the second part of her shift, since she had to leave early and had found nobody else to do it for her. She was a single mother and it probably had something to do with her young kid but Haruki did not pry for a reason, she did not have to explain herself to him for something like that. He already felt bad that she had thanked him so profusely, when he had told her he'd come in on his rare Saturday off and she had promised him repeatedly that she would cover whenever he needed to. It was a nice sentiment but Haruki would probably never take her up on that offer since she already had enough on her plate.

Afterwards Given had band practice scheduled for the evening. He did not want to cancel that either, since they had a small gig coming up and it was always best for their self-confidence to get the needed practice in.

Haruki was glad that it was only the fever, so far he was lacking a runny nose and sore throat and if it was up to him, it could gladly stay that way. He could deal with a slightly elevated temperature, no problem.

Notes:

So apparently I just randomly started writing this so I have no idea where I'm going with it, there might not be an actual plot in the end lol Yes Haruki is 23 now, since this takes place during late fall in the year they got together in spring and his birthday is during the summer I really stress about including or leaving out details that are absolutely not important but that I am overthinking about a lot  
e.g. we know that Haruki is usually wearing contact lenses most of the time but when I wrote the beginning where he just tiredly collapses onto bed the night before, I wonder, did he have time to get them out? writing that in this context would be weird though "i'm dead tired I can't even undress properly...but lemme just get my contacts out!" lmao  
The other option would be that he slept with the lenses still in. I hope not but also if he did I should have mentioned it in the morning routine...  
URGH so I just left it out but then felt guilty about my lack of detail lmao  
I hope you don't care too much about it, just imagine he did whatever you feel fits best XD I already wrote a little further but since this is absolutely not outlined at all, feel free to leave any "this would be cute/fun/nice" ideas  
maybe it'll spark some inspiration 


	2. Chapter 2

Haruki felt like crap. A quick glance at the clock in the café told him that he had 30 minutes left until he finished work. Despite the short shift, Haruki felt absolutely drained. He was hot and a little queasy and it was hard for him to focus on anything.

Just 15 minutes before the end of his shift, Yatake showed up and quickly noted that something was wrong with his friend. He ordered a coffee to go and, while Haruki prepared the beverage for him, he ended up telling him about his fever.

"You dragged yourself to work with a fever? Wasn't this supposed to be your day off anyways?" Yatake paid up but did not show any intention to leave just yet.

"It wasn't that bad when I started…and I promised to cover for someone so I had no choice," Haruki whined in protest. He nodded to the colleague, who had just arrived for the shift change, and started cleaning up.

"Uh-huh, well, you've almost survived it. So I'd say get some food and especially hydration and then go straight to bed," Yatake advised.

"Er, I still have band practice." Haruki sounded meek, he knew exactly what Take-chan would say next and braced himself for it.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Don't yell!" Haruki hushed his friend, throwing a quick glance to his colleague and smiling appeasingly.

"You barely survived work in your condition and you want to go to the studio next? You do realize that band practice is even more taxing than your work?" The exasperation was loud and clear in his voice.

Haruki appreciated the concern but he was a grown man and while not always making the right decisions he was at least reliable. He could not just skip out on band practice like that. And if he was honest, he was looking forward to seeing Akihiko again. While technically they had just seen each other yesterday, Haruki enjoyed every moment he could spend with his boyfriend. He was such a hopeless sap.

"It's only a couple of hours, I won't play too hard." Haruki loosened the knot of his waiter apron with practiced ease, unwrapping it from around his waist, and disappeared shortly to hang it up and grab his coat and scarf from the staff wardrobe, missing the hard eye-roll that Yatake gave him for that reply. As if Haruki could hold himself back when music was involved.

He returned and joined his friend in front of the counter, waving good-bye to his colleague and dragging Take-chan outside with him. Haruki sighed as the cool air hit his heated face. Yatake walked him to his car and gave him the look that said that all his life choices were so very wrong.

"I haven't taken any medicine, only vitamins, so I can still drive just fine," Haruki immediately defended himself.

Yatake opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again and clicked his tongue, shaking his head. Then, suddenly, he put his palm on Haruki's forehead, who only did not blush because he was already too flushed for it to make any difference.

"You are pretty hot." He frowned.

"Oh, thanks, but I am off the market now and so are you, Take-chan, so it's a bit late for us." Haruki had tried for humour but Yatake seemingly did not find it very amusing judging by his glare and the fact that he outright ignored the whole comment with his next question.

"Is the fever the only symptom? Nothing else?"

It was actually quite touching how he was mother-henning him. Yatake was a true friend who really cared about him and it warmed Haruki's heart. He just nodded and shrugged.

"No sore throat or runny nose….yet," Haruki confirmed verbally because it looked as if gestures were not a satisfying enough answer.

Yatake sighed again. "It must be the stress, you are totally overworked, Haru."

Before he could even open his mouth to retort, Yatake was already holding up his fingers, counting off all the things he knew Haruki was busy with.

"College classes – I know that you have a couple of projects going on and some deadlines are approaching soon! –, the café job, your band practice, the promotional work and networking you do for Given, the effort you put into Given's social media accounts, your support work for Aya's band-…"

Yatake had switched to his second hand, awkwardly holding his coffee cup to hold up six fingers and keep counting but Haruki made a bashful grab for those hands to stop him from continuing his rant and possibly drop his coffee.

"Alright, ok, I got your point." He released Yatake's hands with a sigh and defeatedly brushed a strand of hair behind his ear, from where it had loosened.

"I might have some things on my plate but that's all important work I can't just skip out on, Take-chan!"

Haruki was a master of the pleading look and making puppy-dog eyes. The worst thing was that he did it all naturally and unwittingly and that Yatake was always weak to it.

Haruki was clearly not in the condition to go to band practice but there was no chance in hell that he could convince his friend to go home and sleep it off instead. He was diligent and stubborn and Yatake suspected that Akihiko's presence at the studio was also a big factor for why he would not want to miss out on band practice.

Gritting his teeth, he threw another glare towards Haruki just because and flicked his forehead with his fingers as a little punishment for not taking care of himself.

"Ouch, hey, what was that for?" Haruki was frowning and rubbing his forehead confused.

"Because you are an idiot."

"Gee, thanks." With a pout, Haruki turned to unlock his car and sat down on the driver's seat, putting the key into the ignition and turning it to start the motor.

"Haru," Yatake stepped closer, "drive carefully and don't overdo it, ok?" He felt a bit guilty for sending Haruki off in his condition but he hoped that Akihiko would take care of him.

"Yeah, thanks." Haruki flashed him a warm smile.

Nodding, Yatake pushed the driver's door closed and stepped back from the car. He watched as Haruki pulled out of the parking space, they waved to each other one last time and then the car took off towards the studio.

He kept watching until the car had disappeared, then Yatake turned around to walk home. He really hoped that Akihiko would prove himself to be a good boyfriend and take care of Haruki. That guy was probably the only person Haruki would listen to right now.


	3. Chapter 3

Haruki arrived safely at the studio. The drive was not that long and traffic not too bad but he had really felt his concentration waning rapidly. When he finally pulled into the parking space and cut off the motor, all the tension bled out of him and Haruki slumped down in his seat. He bent forward, leaning his forehead against the steering wheel, closing his eyes for a minute.

His own pulse was roaring loudly in his ears and it felt like lava in his veins. Haruki was starting to suspect that Take-chan had probably been right and he would regret this but there was no backing out now.

He pulled himself together, tapping into his last energy reserves, and exited the car, walking towards the rear of it to get his bass case out of the trunk. The precious instrument on his shoulders, Haruki locked the car and walked to the studio entrance.

He could hear that the kids were already there, before opening the door to the practice room. They seemed to be warming up with playing some chords on their guitars judging by the sounds that soaked through.

Haruki entered the room and was greeted with the buzz of the amplified sound from the speakers and the boys' smiles as they welcomed him. He was glad to find that he had not developed a sensitivity to noise today, in any case he could always reduce the volume a bit, if it proved any trouble. But Haruki did not want to draw any attention to his wellbeing, if possible. And the one instrument that he expected to add to his slight headache was the drum kit, the cymbals in particular could produce quite the permeating sound. He side-eyed the instrument that was still missing its drummer.

Mafuyu and Uenoyama were animatedly discussing which effect to use at a certain chord progression in one of their new songs. They were playing with the effect pedal to try out some variations. Haruki shrugged out of his jacket and unwrapped the scarf from his neck to put them aside. He took some big gulps of his water bottle before unpacking his bass and plugging it into the amp.

After the set-up, he began to strum some random melody on his strings, warming up his fingers. Haruki would have to put a little more strength and energy into it later, his sound was soft and weak at the moment but he was concentrating on loosening up his stiff fingers and getting rid of the joint pain for now.

When Akihiko came rushing in, Haruki was sitting on the chair talking to Mafuyu and Uenoyama about some areas in their track list where they needed to improve. Akihiko was out of breath, apologizing for being late, and his eyes immediately found Haruki, who smiled at him shyly and gave a tiny wave of his hand in welcome. They were long over their awkward phase and the younger members had known about them being a couple from the get-go - it was hard to hide after all and Akihiko hadn't even tried to be anything but straight-forward about it - but Akihiko and Haruki kept PDA at a minimum still.

As soon as he met with those green eyes, Haruki felt self-conscious. He feared that Akihiko was too sharp, that he would see right through him. But Akihiko was still focussed on being late and rushed to undress and sit down behind his drums.

"Sorry, guys, there was some road block, I had to take a detour and then got into traffic because of some construction work. What did I miss?"

"Uh, just warm-up and some notes on our set-list that we were going through right now." Haruki glanced at the printouts with his handwritten notes in Uenoyama's hands. He had handed them over as soon as he noticed that he could not focus on the writing even if he had his glasses on. Luckily he remembered most of what he had put down before.

"I'll take a quick toilet break. Why don't you go over the points with Akihiko until I'm back, Uecchi?" Uenoyama looked surprised but nodded and turned to Akihiko to get him back on track. Haruki carefully set his instrument aside and, as he stood up to leave, wavered a bit. Mafuyu gave him one of those unidentifiable looks and Haruki just smiled in return and walked out of the room. Maybe he was afraid of the wrong person seeing right through him. The boy usually appeared to be the spacy, ditzy type but Mafuyu had extraordinarily heightened senses, it was quite scary at times. Luckily, though, he also was the quiet type, too.

Haruki walked towards the restroom and, once inside, checked his appearance in the mirror. Compared to that morning, he had lost some of his ashen colour where his skin wasn't burning up and retained his normal paleness in those areas. But his fever blush had spread out a bit from sitting high on his cheekbones to covering his whole cheeks and bridging over his nose as well.

He turned on the faucet, bowed down over the sink and splashed some cold water on his face. It felt good for two seconds but didn't do anything else to help him look more like himself.

The worst thing beside the fatigue and soreness was that Haruki felt really uncomfortable due to the constant sweating. His shirt clung to him at his neck and lower back and was damp in his armpits, he craved another shower. It was good that he chose a darker shirt today so any embarrassing pit stains wouldn't be obviously visible. Pulling at the fabric, Haruki took a tentative whiff. It wasn't that bad, he had taken a shower that morning (or rather at noon) and his deodorant had held up surprisingly well. Still, Haruki felt disgusting, but there wasn't much he could do about it right now, so he reluctantly returned to the practice room.

It went fairly okay for a while. They kept discussing the songs for their upcoming gig, problems with rhythm, the lyrics, which parts didn't sound quite right yet and so on. Haruki tried his best to keep up with everything, to give some useful input, when asked for his opinion on the matter, but all the theory and the short jamming sessions to test things out were really exhausting and Haruki kept chugging his water like a man dying of thirst, he had refilled the bottle twice already.

When all the words and sounds produced mingled into one meaningless mess in his brain, Haruki suggested that they played through their set once to get back into feeling the music as a whole and not get too focussed on single parts, losing the context.

After all, music had to be experienced, or maybe it was just that way for him, since he wasn't a genius like the other three. Haruki instantly regretted that disdainful thought as soon as the other members enthusiastically agreed to his suggestion. He knew first-hand how much those guys loved music and how much they were practicing even with their given talents.

"Alright, let's play through it all once, no stops, don't mind the mistakes. We'll review afterwards." Haruki wasn't sure whether this was a good or bad idea but he stayed determined to make the most of it. Even if his brain was a bit scrambled right now, he usually worked well on his intuition alone.

Everyone took to their instruments. Haruki looked expectantly at Akihiko, who grinned at him and then set the rhythm.

"Ready? One, two, three, four!"

Akihiko's beat instantly filled the room and Haruki's fingers automatically moved to pluck at the strings of his bass in perfect synch. The guitars joined a split-second later and when Mafuyu's beautiful voice began to resonate, it all came together. Haruki closed his eyes, he let the music fill his mind, let it drone out all those unnecessary thoughts. He played on muscle memory alone, could feel the heat radiating from himself, the ache in his muscles and bones, the exhaustion in his body.

And yet, Haruki soaked up the music, let it string him along. It wasn't perfect, there were mistakes here and there but Haruki did not care. It was fun. Just so much fun!

Akihiko's gaze was drawn towards his boyfriend. Haruki seemed to be really into it today, he was moving with the music more than usual and his fingers plucked strongly and confidently. He normally had a more serene look on his face when they were playing, but this time it looked like there was laughter bubbling in his chest. This wasn't about improvement, this was just pure enjoyment. Akihiko didn't mind, in fact, he bathed in Haruki's glow. God, how he loved this man.

They kept riding the flow, one song leading straight into the next one and by the end of the last one Haruki was breathing almost as hard as Mafuyu, who had sung his soul out. There was a moment of silence where the band members digested what had just happened. Akihiko, Uenoyama and Mafuyu all exchanged glances before looking back at Haruki, who kept his gaze fixed on the ground, since the whole room was spinning for him.

"Haruki-san, that was… I've never heard you play like that before!" Uenoyama seemed like he did not know whether to be shocked or in awe but his expression was clearly that of someone who had enjoyed himself.

"It was so much fun," Mafuyu agreed, still out of breath.

With the fabric of his shirt sleeve Haruki wiped the sweat off his face, he was still fighting against vertigo and did not really take in the comments from his bandmates. It was so damn hot, he felt parched and made a grab for his water bottle only to realize that there was just one sip left.

"Haruki?"

He startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder and Akihiko's voice close to his ear. When Haruki moved to turn around, he staggered a bit and Akihiko steadied him so he didn't stumble and fall.

"Hey, careful, are you alright? You seem a little out of it." There they were, those penetrating, beautiful, green eyes.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry, I kinda lost myself a bit there," Haruki gave a self-conscious little chuckle. He shrugged out of Akihiko's steadying hold on his arms and the bass strap around his shoulders to put down his instrument and lean it carefully against the wall.

"I, er, I'll be right back, just need a small restroom break." He shook the almost empty bottle in emphasis und moved out of the room on unsteady feet.

Akihiko frowned. Something was up.

"Haruki-san takes a lot of toilet breaks today," Uenoyama remarked as he fiddled with the pegs on his guitar.

"Well, he's been drinking a lot of water since he arrived," Mafuyu said in that neutral tone of his, reaching for his own tea bottle.

Akihiko's frown deepend. "He has?"

The boys nodded in unison.

At the sink in the restroom, Haruki was trying to hold the bottle steadily under the stream of water with shaking hands. Once it was half-full, he put the bottle to his lips and drank hastily. Haruki was tempted to just empty it over his head for some cooling effect, he was already drenched in his own sweat so it could hardly make things worse. He set the empty bottle down on the edge of the sink. Filling it up again was such a hassle. Hands braced on the porcelain, Haruki left his head hanging between his shoulders. Some part of him was still riding that music high but whatever energy had pulled him through the whole session had left him absolutely drained now.

The air was stifling. Haruki needed to get outside for a minute or two. He shuffled down the corridor towards the building entrance and stepped out into the crisp, cool night breeze. The air instantly turned the sweat on his skin into a chilling, stinging layer. Haruki could practically feel his damp shirt grow cold in mere moments. It wasn't comfortable, he shuddered and the fine hair on his arms stood up in goose bumps, but it was still such a relief to his overheated body. It was weird to be burning and freezing at the same time but it balanced out well enough for the moment.

Haruki took a few steps towards the vending machine. They had changed most of the products to warm beverages already, a sure sign that winter was close, if the weather didn't give it away that is.

A strong burst of wind sent a chill across his body. It was always a bit drafty in that area right in front of the building. There was a little space right between the vending machine and the brick wall, so Haruki took shelter there, leaning against the stone right beside the automat.

He knew he should return to the practice room sooner than later but Haruki was just so burned out, literally. He wanted to enjoy that prickling cold just a little longer. Only a few more minutes.

His trembling legs gave out under him and Haruki let himself slide down the wall to sit on the floor. He leaned his head against the freezing metal of the vending machine, it felt like a cold compress on his forehead. Watching his own breath escape his mouth in tiny cloud puffs, Haruki's eyes became droopy. He could feel his fingers grow stiff from the cold and flexed them to work against it. He couldn't pluck his strings, if his fingers were turning to ice.

There were cars on the street and Haruki could hear the blood rushing in his ears but compared to the music of his band this was more of a deafening silence. Haruki started humming one of Given's new songs. His eyes fell closed and he let the world just spin around him.

Akihiko went from tapping his foot impatiently to pacing the room waiting for Haruki to return, who was taking his sweet time, until he couldn't take it anymore. If he had added a smoking break to his bathroom break, he could have invited Akihiko, like they'd usually do. But something was telling him it wasn't that.

"I'll go and check what Haruki is up to, we'll be right back," he told the boys, who were also obviously wondering what was up with the oldest member today.

Akihiko stomped straight to the restrooms and entered the men's one.

"Haruki? What's taking so long?" No reply. His eyes were drawn towards the sink where a familiar bottle was left standing empty and alone.

"Haruki?" Akihiko walked towards the toilet stalls but none was occupied. Now worry was really gnawing at him, Haruki wasn't the type to leave his trash behind at random places. He didn't even litter with his burnt down cigarette butts, always careful to leave a place clean and tidy.

Akihiko grabbed the bottle and returned to the hallway, he looked it up and down. Where the hell could Haruki have run off to? His eyes stayed fixed on the building entrance and he moved towards it on a hunch.

When he left the building, Akihiko did not immediately see Haruki, since it was already dark outside, but he soon noticed the white shoes on the ground peaking around the corner and the puff of air that came from the niche besides the vending machine. Rounding the corner, Akihiko stood right above Haruki, who was curled up against the wall and machine, looking like he was taking a nap if it wasn't for the low humming of a familiar melody.

"Haruki. What are you doing here, what's going on?" Akihiko crouched down in front of his boyfriend, relieved to have found him but concerned about, well, the whole situation.

Haruki blinked his eyes half-open and gave him a weak smile.

"It's cold, you must be freezing, let's get back inside before you catch your death out here." Akihiko grabbed Haruki's hands, blocks of ice hanging limply over his knees, and stood up, trying to pull him along but Haruki was like a dead weight.

"Sorry, I….don't think I can stand, I'm out of energy," Haruki mumbled. "And the cold isn't too bad, I think I have a fever, I'm burning up."

"Hah?!" Akihiko kneeled down again and this time took a proper look at Haruki's face. He was flushed, had been all evening, but Akihiko hadn't thought much about it, it wasn't hard to make Haruki blush. And yeah, he was sweating but they all were when they got really into it during practice.

Gently, Akihiko put his palm on Haruki's forehead.

"Fuck, you're hot!" He wanted to punch himself for not having noticed this earlier and Haruki, too, a little, for not letting anything on.

Haruki snorted in amusement, chuckling to himself, like there was a joke hidden in there.

"It's not funny, idiot, why didn't you say anything?" He let his hand wander towards Haruki's cheek, caressing it lovingly, while scolding him.

Haruki nuzzled into the hand, it was warm but still comforting.

"It wasn't that bad before….I'm sorry."

"It clearly was!" Akihiko sighed, no use getting worked up about that now. He'd have to get Haruki home. Riding behind him on his bike was out of the question in his condition, he wouldn't be able to hold on properly and to move along with him to balance the bike. Haruki lived in walking distance from the studio but dragging him home even such a short distance would be a pain in the ass and would take too long. He had no choice but to call a taxi, unless…

"Hey, did you take your car today?"

Haruki nodded. Perfect!

"Where are the keys?" Akihiko would love to pat down Haruki's pockets but he was still careful with unsolicited touches in certain areas. They had talked about it, once, and Haruki probably wouldn't mind but Akihiko was taking this precious second chance seriously, he did not want to fuck things up again.

"Uh, they must be in my jacket."

"Gotcha." Akihiko pulled out his phone and called Uenoyama, who answered with a confused "Kaji-san?"

"Yo, Uesama, can you pack up Haruki's bass and bring it out along with his other stuff?" He kept caressing Haruki's cheek with his free hand, occasionally carding a strand of honey blond hair back behind his ears that kept falling in his face and clinging to his heated skin.

"Yeah, we are right outside, I found him collapsed on the ground….uhn….no he'll be fine, I'm taking him home, yeah…thanks." Hanging up, he let the phone slide back into his jeans pocket.

"Uenoyama will bring out your things, I'll drive your car and take you home." There was no complaint from Haruki, though he was the last person with a right to object to Akihiko's decision about this anyways.

"Brrr, it's so frickin' cold. Come here, warm me up." Akihiko shuddered theatrically and pulled Haruki into his arms. While he was indeed cold as well, it was an obvious ruse to get some body warmth transferred to Haruki's ice-cold skin where it was exposed to the air. He couldn't let him catch a cold on top of things.

Haruki hesitantly cuddled up to him, he was half-embarrassed about his possible body odor but his other half was always yearning to be close to Akihiko, so he gave in to his clingy side.

Akihiko instantly tighten his embrace and nuzzled into Haruki's neck, breathing in his scent, which went straight to his heart, squeezing out all his suppressed feelings and letting them drip down into his stomach, where they slowly formed a growing pool of desire.

"You smell so good," Akihiko mumbled into Haruki's skin, letting out a low hum of appreciation.

Haruki twitched as if a jolt of electricity had just run through him and he leaned back and out of the embrace, staring at Akihiko with mild shock and disbelief in those wide, amber eyes.

"You can't be serious, I am disgusting!" Here he was feeling all dirty and _that's_ what was going through Akihiko's mind?! Though, he couldn't deny that it was weirdly flattering.

Akihiko cocked his head and raised one of his thin eyebrows at him.

"You are enticing." He gave one grave nod as if he had just stated a universal truth.

Haruki averted his eyes. That beautiful green gaze was too much for his heart at times and this was one of those times. And if his fever hadn't already done its part, Haruki's brain would have been thoroughly fried by that comment and the low rumble of Akihiko's voice.

"_You_ are impossible," Haruki mumbled and tried to hide his face against Akihiko's chest but before he could duck down, Akihiko's fingers were under his chin and keeping his head up to press a firm kiss on those slightly parted lips. It took all his willpower not to involve any tongue, though. Haruki was too tempting for his own good and he did not even realize it most of the time, which added to the frustration.

"You are cute. End of discussion." Akihiko was determined to always win this argument, no matter what underhanded method he had to use to shut Haruki up and to raise his self-esteem.

Haruki was still blinking owlishly and staring at Akihiko through a haze, when Mafuyu and Uenoyama came rushing out, carrying not only Haruki's things but Akihiko's as well, which had totally slipped his mind but luckily those kids had some brains on them.

"Haruki-san, how are you?"

"You should have said something, if you weren't feeling well!"

Ah, the sweet concern and reprimand of your juniors. Haruki really felt like an idiot. He had wanted to avoid making trouble for anyone and now he had messed up their precious studio time with his silly secrecy.

"I'm sorry…," was all he could say in reply.

Akihiko was slipping on his jacket, taken from Mafuyu's arms, and began rummaging through Haruki's coat pockets until he fished out the car keys, twirling them around his finger playfully as he turned back around.

"Let's get you to the car. Where are you parked?"

"The usual spot." Haruki had a regular parking spot that was usually free when they scheduled practice hours at the studio and when it wasn't, more often than not, there was another spot open close-by.

"Haruki-san, can you stand up?" Uenoyama was still obviously worried for him, which warmed Haruki's heart. He nodded but shot Akihiko a pleading look and instantly both his boyfriend as well as Uecchi were at his side to easily pull him into a standing position with their combined effort.

While Akihiko shortly turned to Mafuyu to get Haruki's coat and scarf, Haruki kept his hand on Uenoyama's shoulder to steady himself through another dizzy spell. Unfortunately the world was spinning more, the more he was moving, so he tried to keep stiffly still.

He only noticed his bass case on Uenoyama's back when he was forced to let go of him as Akihiko pulled his arms through his jacket sleeves, dressing him like a mother would her child. Mafuyu observed the older couple in silent wonder.

They somehow managed to drag Haruki to the car and unceremoniously dropped him in the front passenger seat. Uenoyama gently and safely stowed Haruki's precious instrument away in the trunk compartment while Akihiko took his place at the driver's side. The kids walked up to the scrolled down window to say goodbye.

"Get well soon, Haruki-san." Mafuyu smiled encouragingly and Uenoyama was nodding along emphatically but with a stern face as if Haruki's outlook was bleak.

"Thanks, and don't look so grim," he snickered, "I'll be better soon. There is still time before curfew, so feel free to use the studio until then, otherwise it would be such a waste."

The boys agreed to do so, after quickly exchanging glances, promised Haruki to leave the place spotless and get home safely. They said goodbye for the day and waved after the car as Akihiko pulled out of the parking lot and into the road.

The drive home to Haruki's place wasn't longer than a couple of minutes, so he left Haruki's window cracked open to let the cool breeze blow over his face. Akihiko glanced over at him a few times, Haruki kept his head tilted towards to window with his eyes closed and his lips parted just a tiny bit.

Akihiko was already pondering how best to break that fever so that Haruki could recover fast. He might have to look some tips up online.


	4. Chapter 4

Akihiko pulled up to an empty parking spot close to Haruki's apartment. Some asshole had parked a bit generously in his spot, therefore Akihiko had to navigate some more to move into the free space so that he would have enough room to get the fevered Haruki safely out without any scratches in the paint of his door.

He pressed the button to close the window on Haruki's side, turned off the motor, unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to Haruki to free him from that same restraint as well.

"Hey, are you still with me?" Akihiko probed, since Haruki looked like he was asleep, eyes closed, head leaning towards the door and a deep frown drawing his brows into a pained expression. He received a moan and some mumbled words he could not make any sense off as a reply.

Akihiko unbuckled Haruki and pulled the key out of the ignition before exiting his side to walk over to the passenger door. Opening it to be just a hairbreadth away from the car parked besides them, Akihiko glared at said car in disdain. The jerk really did not need to occupy that much space with that piece of junk. That's why Akihiko liked to take his bike, even if some asshole was taking up almost two parking spaces, he would always easily fit in still.

Making sure he had both sets of keys in his hand, the car key and the house keys, Akihiko squatted down to get his arms under Haruki's legs and behind his back to pull him out of the seat. There was no way he could walk anymore in his state and Akihiko's muscles were the useful kind, not the ones just for show.

As Haruki noticed that he was being manhandled, his eyes flew open.

"What are you trying to do?" he asked, not as unintelligible as before.

"Getting you out of this car and into your bed," came Akihiko's nonchalant answer and one second later he had Haruki in his arms, squirming lightly in embarrassment.

Akihiko managed to push the car door closed with his hip without any property damage, then pressed the button on the car key to lock all doors automatically and simultaneously.

He adjusted Haruki in his hold and laughed a little at his discomfort of being carried princess style in his very own neighbourhood.

"Would you stop your wiggling? It's dark outside and nobody notices or cares, unless you want to make a scene out of it."

Haruki actually stopped his resistance and cuddled closer to Akihiko's chest, even if it was just to hide his burning face in the crook of Akihiko's neck who put a quick kiss to his head and carried him towards his apartment.

As expected, the entrance to Haruki's building was unlocked as usual, so Akihiko just pushed the door open with his shoulder and entered the hallway. He quickly climbed the stairs to Haruki's floor without much effort despite the weight of an adult man in his hold.

Even right in front of the apartment door, Akihiko would not set his human baggage down. Haruki instead slung his arms around Akihiko's neck, so he had one arm free to use the key and unlock the door. Finally inside, Akihiko quickly kicked off his shoes in the entrance and then carried Haruki to his bedroom to drop him on his bed like a sack of potatoes. He untied Haruki's shoe laces and pulled off his shoes.

"I'll be right back, just going to get your stuff from the car," Akihiko let him know before disappearing from the bedroom.

Haruki managed to unzip and shrug out of his coat, then flopped back on his pillow and stayed like that until Akihiko returned.

"Did you get everything?" Haruki turned his head to his boyfriend, who stood leaning against the doorway frame, now also without his jacket.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. You okay? Anything you need?"

Haruki nodded and waved Akihiko over to the bedside, who followed his beckoning obediently, sitting down at the edge of the bed and gently stroking those glowing cheeks.

"Are you thirsty? I could get you some water or make tea, if you like?"

Haruki smiled and nodded again.

"Water would be great, thanks." Akihiko was so sweet, he was really spoiling him and Haruki was appreciating it a lot.

Haruki grabbed his sleeve to keep Akihiko from standing up right away.

"Before that, could you do me a favour? Please~ help me out of these clothes," he whined. Getting undressed on his own would take too much effort and he was already pretty spent as it was.

"You know there is nothing I would rather do." Akihiko grinned and he started stripping his boyfriend, making it into a mock strip-show all with humming an appropriately inappropriate melody and whistling at the sight of Haruki's exposed skin when he pulled off his socks.

Haruki wiggled his toes and cracked up when Akihiko kept acting as if that was the most seductive thing he had ever done. Maybe it was, Haruki wasn't sure, all he knew was that his boyfriend was a dork.

Akihiko gave a soft slap to Haruki's thigh, when all he was left in were his boxer briefs. Not that he hadn't been tempted to pull those off as well, but despite a healthy and very active libido, Akihiko knew to hold himself back now, especially when Haruki wasn't feeling well.

"Done. That wasn't that hard."

"Not for you. I'm all dizzy again," Haruki countered but with mirth in his tone. He closed his eyes to the spinning world around him but still felt as if he was on a ship during a storm.

"I'll go and get you your water." Akihiko stooped down to pick up all the scattered clothes and pulled Haruki's coat out from under him, making a detour to the bathroom to put all the garments into the laundry basket. Haruki's coat he hung up in the wardrobe at the entrance, before reaching his real destination, the kitchen.

Opening the fridge, Akihiko pulled out one of the cooled water bottles just to change his mind and put it back in to grab one from the crate with room temperature. He thought that Haruki probably shouldn't drink anything too chilly, still determined to keep him from really developing that cold. He skipped out on getting a glass, it would be easier to just drink straight from the bottle and keep the spilling risk a bit lower.

Returning to Haruki's side, Akihiko offered him the bottle to take a couple of sips before he sat it down on the bass amp beside the bed, the only item in this small bedroom that could be used as a table and was in reaching range for Haruki. Being too tired and dizzy to notice, Haruki missed out on a chance to scold Akihiro for his blatant disrespect for that piece of equipment. For now.

Akihiko gently pushed Haruki back down and started tugging him in.

"What are you doing?" he asked confused.

"You need to sleep." Akihiko continued to snugly set the blanket around Haruki's frame until he freed his arms from under it and pushed it back down to his hips, struggling to get back into a sitting position.

"I have to take a shower first. I feel really dirty all sweaty like this."

Akihiko could understand the sentiment but remained firm.

"You can shower later. You're gonna have to sweat out the fever anyways, so it would only be a temporary relief. And you can't even sit in bed without wobbling, I won't risk you collapsing in the shower and hurting yourself even more." He punctuated his arguments with increasingly more aggressive tugging as he once more pushed Haruki back into his pillow and pulled the blanket up to his chin again.

Haruki just pouted but gave no counter argument as he was turned into a mummy by his boyfriend. He had to cease the point to Akihiko this time but it didn't mean that he had to like it.

The way that Akihiko methodically tugged the blanket around him made Haruki snort with amusement though. He looked so concentrated and serious while doing it.

"What?" Akihiko glared at him with suspicion at the sudden merriment.

"Nothing, I just thought I'm starting to feel like a mummy with how you're wrapping me up. Might as well just have tied me to the bed instead," he chuckled and Akihiko grinned.

"That's the idea. I don't have any rope or handcuffs at hand right now but maybe next time," he winked and enjoyed the small laughter his silly innuendo had elicited.

Akihiko patted the blanket right above Haruki's stomach soothingly and leaned down to put a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"Now get some rest. If you need anything, just shout. I'll be close-by." He brushed a few loose strands of hair out of Haruki's face and, just because he could, peppered it with a couple more, soft kisses.

Haruki hummed his affirmation and gave a small nod, mumbling a quiet but heartfelt "thank you" as his eyelids drooped closed and the tension visibly left his body. It showed just how exhausted he was when it didn't even take two minutes for him to doze off.

Akihiko kept watching him snooze for a while before slowly and carefully lifting his weight from the mattress without disturbing Haruki's sleep. He tiptoed over to the living room and stood by the sofa looking over to the open kitchen area a little undecidedly. He had to figure out what he could do to help while Haruki was finally asleep. It was time to roll up his sleeves and get to work.


End file.
